Animation Congregation: The Openings You Couldn't Resist...

Redartz:  Hello everyone! I know it's been trying times for many of us these days, what with that irritating pandemic and all. So how about a big dose of Saturday morning goodness to lift the spirits a bit? 

For this overgrown kid, the opening sequences and themes for the cartoons were almost as much fun as the shows themselves. Hearing the first notes of the music, seeing the action on the screen; you just KNEW you were in for some great animated escapism. And seeing these today still gets me excited. So for your enjoyment, here are a bunch of my favorite openings, culled from the 60's to the 90's. Of course as an older Bronze Age baby (with apologies to Doug and Karen), my choices are weighted a bit to late 60's and early 70's shows. But the 1967 Spider-man and Fantastic Four cartoons, and certainly Jonny Quest, are classics that were shown for years after their debuts. So grab a bowl of cereal and  meet me in front of the tv...

King Kong (1967)

Spider-Man (1967)

Jonny Quest (1964)

Fantastic Four (1967)

Adventures of Superman (1966)

Batman: The Animated Series (1992)

Scooby Doo (1969)

Bugs Bunny Show (1962)

Drak Pack (1980)

 Josie and the Pussycats (1970)

Valley of the Dinosaurs (1974)

 Emergency Plus 4 (1973)

Now you've had a taste of my tastes; so let's hear about your favorites. What did you think of these intros, and what ones should I have included that got skipped this time?

Animation Congregation / $1 Challenge: Saturday Morning Comic Books!

Martinex1:  Hey BitBA  fans, today we have a special mix of two of our favorite topics - Saturday morning cartoons and comic books!   It is like chocolate and peanut butter, two great concepts that go great together.  So we have also combined our blog features The Quarter Bin $1 Challenge and the Animation Congregation for this post.

You may think it is rare for your favorite Saturday cartoons to leap to the comic spinner rack, but I disagree.  It seems that back in the bronze age, it was quite common for the stars of animated series to jump to the comic medium.  Dell, Charlton, and Gold Key particularly took advantage of the synergy. From super-heroes to funny animals to adventurers, we've got them all.

Take a look at the myriad books we have assembled and pick your four favorites.  Hopefully this selection brings back some warm memories of carefree weekends, television consoles, a big bowl of cereal, and warm pajamas. 

Share your thoughts on these and other favorite series and comics.  We'd like to know which books you would buy if these showed up on the spinner rack. Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

Riding the Retro Metro: Destination February 23, 1974

Redartz:  All aboard; time's a wastin'! Our Retro Metro is taking us back to Saturday, February 23, 1974. Which, actually, is a fairly portentous time for your humble host: the very month that a young Redartz discovered the wonderful world of comics! Actually, this was a great time to get hooked into pop culture. Let's head back and see why...

As we step off the bus, we pass a movie theatre, showing the film with the top song in the US this week: Barbara Streisand, singing "The Way We Were"

Rounding out the top five:
2.  Terry Jacks- "Seasons in the Sun"
3.  Aretha Franklin- "Until You Come Back to Me"
4.  Jim Stafford- "Spiders and Snakes"
5.  Love Unlimited Orchestra- "Love's Theme" 

My good friend in Middle School, who was instrumental in my new comics addiction, also has got me started listening each week to Casey Kasem and "American Top 40" on the radio. I love it. I also love another song, further down the charts that we talked about in Spanish class: "Eres Tu", by Mocedades.

Tops in the UK:  Mud- "Tiger Feet"
I'm not familiar with this one, Casey hasn't played it yet...

Oh, and hey, it's Saturday again! And there's enough good viewing on the networks this morning to require a couple extra bowls of cereal. I never miss Scooby Doo and his guest stars, but also must catch Emergency Plus 4 , Star Trek and the Addams Family. A very full Saturday schedule!


US Network Television Schedule:

Saturday Morning:
ABC offered Bugs Bunny, Yogi's Gang, Super Friends, The Saturday Superstar Movie, and more
CBS had Flintstone comedy Show, New Scooby Doo Movies, Jeannie, Speed Buggy and more
NBC was showing  The Addams Family, Emergency Plus 4, Star Trek: The Animated Series and more

But wait, what's on tonight? Fear not, let's pull the TV Guide out of my backpack and see...


Prime Time: 

Carol Burnett Show Cast

ABC:  The Partridge Family, ABC Suspense Movie, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
CBS:   All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, The Carol Burnett Show
NBC:  Emergency!, NBC Saturday Night at the Movies






BBC1:  Cilla, The Saturday Thriller: Let's Kill Uncle, News, Election Broadcast
BBC2:  Falstaff, Election Broadcast, The Pallisers

Mary Tyler Moore Show Intro

Although I'm a faithful viewer of "Emergency", that CBS schedule is absolute comedy perfection! I always catch M*A*S*H when "Emergency" is a rerun. And I never fail to tune in Mary, Bob and Carol. Best night on tv all week, in my opinion.

And of course, as we still have some time to kill before turning on the console tv in the living room, let's stop in the local drugstore and check out the spinner racks:

Boy, it's no wonder I've gotten hooked on these comics. How to choose from these, and all the others? Well, that Amazing Spider-Man is already sitting on my shelf at home; it's the very comic  that has just returned me to the Marvel fold. Oh, and I had to grab that Giant Size Super-Stars with the Fantastic Four: what a cover! And they used the old logo, too!

Well, that's about all we have time for on this excursion back in the bronze age'. But don't worry, the Retro Metro will be back before we know it, ready to take us to another dynamite date...